Lent

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 8 March 2015 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Gradual

Psalm 9 : 20, 4

Exsurge, Domine, non praevaleat homo : judicentur gentes in conspectu Tuo.

Response : In convertendo inimicum meum retrorsum, infirmabuntur, et peribunt a facie Tua.


English translation

Arise, o Lord, let man not be strengthened. Let the Gentiles be judged in Your sight.

Response : When my enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before Your face.


Tract

Psalm 122 : 1-3

Ad Te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in caelis.

Response : Ecce, sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum.

Response : Et sicut oculi ancillae in manibus dominae suae ita oculi nostri ad Dominum, Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.

Response : Miserere nobis, Domine, miserere nobis.


English translation

To You I have lifted up my eyes, You who dwell in heaven.

Response : Behold as the eyes of the servants are on the hands of their masters.

Response : And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us.

Response : Have mercy on us, o Lord. Have mercy on us.

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 8 March 2015 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Ephesios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians

Ephesians 5 : 1-9

Fratres : Estote imitatores Dei, sicut filii carissimi : et ambulate in dilectione, sicut et Christus dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis oblationem, et hostiam Deo in odorem suavitatis. Fornicatio autem et omnis immunditia aut avaritia nec nominetur in vobis, sicut decet sanctos : aut turpitudo aut stultiloquium aut scurrilitae, quae ad rem non pertinet : sed magis gratiarum actio.

Hoc enim scitote intelligentes, quod omnis fornicator aut immundus aut avarus, quod est idolorum servitus, non habet hereditatem in regno Christi et Dei. Nemo vos seducat inanibus verbis : propter haec enim venit ira Dei in filios diffidentiae.

Nolite ergo effici participes eorum. Eratis enim aliquando tenebrae : nunc autem lux in Domino. Ut filii lucis ambulate : fructus enim lucis est in omni bonitate et justitia et veritate.


English translation

Brethren, may you be followers of God, as most dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also had loved us, and had delivered Himself for us, and oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odour of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, of covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as becoming of saints, nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose, but rather giving of thanks.

For all of you should know, and understand, that no fornicator, no unclean person, nor covetous person, which is a serving of idols, had any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things came the anger of God upon the children of unbelief.

May you therefore not become partakers with them. For you were here up to now darkness, but now light in the Lord. May you walk as children of the light, for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice, and truth.

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 8 March 2015 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Introit

Psalm 24 : 15-16, 1-2

Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos : respice in me, et miserere mei, quoniam unicus et pauper sum ego.

Ad Te, Domine, levavi animam meam : Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.


English translation

My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare. May You look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor.

To You, o Lord, I have lifted up my soul. In You, o my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.


Collect

Quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, vota humilium respice : atque, ad defensionem nostram, dexteram Tuae majestatis extende. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.


English translation

Have regard to the desires of the lowly, o Almighty God, we beseech You, and stretch forth the right hand of Your majesty in our defense. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the words of the parable of the prodigal son, the well known story which most of us are certainly familiar with. This is a story of God’s rich love and mercy, and His tender forgiveness for our faults and sins. It is meant to awaken us up to our sins and to help us realise how if we continue in our sinful ways, then we are essentially driving ourselves to annihilation.

The father represents God, who is indeed our Father who created us and cared for us greatly. The elder son represents those of us who have been called and saved from the evils of the world, that means also those of us who are already accepted into the Church through baptism. The younger son represents all those who are still lost in the entanglement of sin and in the darkness of the world.

But this does not mean that the younger son do not have anything in common with us. In fact, so long as we still continue to commit sin, be it big or small, we are still like the younger son, and we are still lost in a way. Remember, brethren, that sin is truly very dangerous, and what is at stake here is nothing else but the very fate of our souls, that means either we end up in eternal joy with our Father in heaven, or that we are forever lost and suffer for eternity for the lack of our Father’s love.

For that is indeed the fate that could have awaited the younger son when he encountered trouble in the foreign lands. He lost or used up all of his money and possessions, and he had to work in a pig farm just so that he might survive, and having no food to eat, he truly suffered and no one even let him to eat the food that the pigs ate.

We have to take note that the younger son made a choice at that point, that is to face up to the truth and reality, admit his mistakes and return to his father. He could have chosen to remain in exile, and most likely in that case that he would have died, if he was too shameful to admit his mistakes, or otherwise too proud to do so. It was his choice to humble himself and to find his way back to his father.

This is to show us that it is also our choice, whether we are to remain in sin and wickedness, and either are too afraid to seek the Lord because we fear His wrath, or too proud to admit our sinfulness, then we are doomed. We should be like the younger son, that prodigal son, who have sinned and showed great remorse, asking for his father’s forgiveness.

His humility and desire to be forgiven bore fruit, and he was received back by his father with love and compassion. He regained his place of honour and his past sins and wickedness were forgiven. Thus, it will be the same with us, if we sincerely and honestly seek God’s forgiveness. God will accept us back into His presence, and He will bless us again with His grace.

And we should also take note of the actions of the elder son, who was jealous of the treatment and attention which his father apparently gave to his wayward younger brother, giving him many things and rewards which he himself had not received before. This is the attitude we should not have, and indeed which we have to avoid. We who have been saved by the grace of God, and have been accepted as a member of His body, must not despise all those who are still filled with wickedness and sin.

Do not judge others, for it is only God who can rightfully judge others. If we judge others, then we too are liable to be judged, for we too are sinners, and daily, we struggle against sin, sometimes successfully while on other times, unsuccessfully. It is therefore, that we all should care for those among us, our own brethren who are still lost in the darkness. And instead of despising them and looking down on them, we should really be helping them to find their way to the Lord.

Today we also celebrate the feast day of the holy martyrs, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity. Both saints were martyrs who died during the days of the pagan Roman Empire, who persecuted the people of the Faith harshly and severely. Many were hunted down and killed, and many of them were also subjected to severe punishment and torture in order to make them recant their Faith, but most refused to do so, and therefore died as martyrs of the Faith.

Similarly with St. Felicity and Perpetua who were martyred for their Faith. They did not give up their faith and trust in the Lord for temporary worldly relief, but instead they met their end of life in this world with joy and full acceptance, and therefore receive the holy gifts of our Lord, the proof that in martyrdom and in all other things, God always loves us and care for all those who have faith in Him.

St. Perpetua and Felicity both knew that if they abandoned the Lord and embraced the sins of the world, they would be safe. But they threw far, far away their human desires and instead they put their complete trust in the Lord, depending only on His love and mercy. And in the end, for their faith, they received great rewards of everlasting life and happiness.

Therefore, inspired by the example of the prodigal son and the courage of the two holy martyrs, let us use the opportunity given to us in this season of Lent, in order to change our ways, and seek the Lord in true and sincere repentance, that like the prodigal son, we may change our ways and avoid destruction due to the sins we have committed. Let us all return to our Father, our Lord and God with sincere love and full of commitment and dedication to Him. God be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable : “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them.”

“Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living. Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land.”

“So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Saturday, 7 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Micah 7 : 14-15, 18-20

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, shepherd the flock of Your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when You went out of Egypt. Show us Your wonders.

Who is a god like You, who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of His inheritance? Who is like You whose anger does not last? For You delight in merciful forgiveness. Once again You will show us Your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of how Joseph, the son of Jacob was betrayed by his own brothers and sold to slavery for a mere twenty pieces of silver. They disliked the attitude of Joseph, who kept receiving dreams which supposedly showed that all of his brothers and even his parents submitting themselves to his authority.

And in the Gospel today we also heard about the parable of the vineyard, where we heard about the tenants who were wicked in their ways and refused to listen to the commands of owner of the vineyard. The parable spoke of those tenants who plotted against the son of the owner and all the servants sent against them. These two readings are indeed related to each other. There is also a message behind this selection of the readings for today.

Joseph and the son of the vineyard owner both represented Jesus, who is the Son of God Most High. The vineyard owner and Jacob represented God the Father. The wicked tenants and the brothers of Joseph represented mankind, that is all of us. There are indeed a lot of symbolism included in this day’s readings. Mankind had often rebelled against the will of God, sinning and committing wickedness after wickedness, just as the wicked tenants have done.

God sent us all many reminder after reminder, messenger after messenger, servants after servants in order to bring us back to the correct path in life. Yet, we obstinately refused His help and persecuted many of those whom had been sent to guide us and aid us on our way. This is precisely as how the wicked tenants persecuted the servants sent by the owner of the vineyard.

And last of all, God spared not even His own Begotten Son, Jesus our Lord, the Divine Word made Flesh. He came into the world in order to reinforce once and for all, God’s intended message for men to repent and change their ways, and follow Him. Notice how this is similar to how Joseph came to his brothers with the portents of his dreams? In how he explained what he had received in those dreams to them?

Just as Joseph is the beloved son of his father, Jacob, our Lord Jesus is also the Beloved Son of our Lord, whom He had begotten from Himself, as part of the Holy Trinity, perfectly united and undivided in love. And as Joseph and his brothers are indeed brothers in blood, we too, by the nature of the Divine Word who was incarnate into Flesh, who was made Man, also share the brotherhood with our Lord Jesus Christ.

As mentioned, the wicked tenants were greedy and lustful over the possessions of the vineyard owner. This is representing all of us who have hardened our hearts against God by giving in to our greed and to our worldly desires. It is indeed naturally difficult for us to resist our human desires. We are always exposed to the many temptations of the world that prevented us from following the Lord our God.

Do you notice the stark similarities between the two readings, especially on the part where Joseph was sold by his own brothers to the Midianites for a mere twenty pieces of silver, a meager price for a man, each of us, who are priceless? And how about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him for a mere thirty pieces of silver?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, whenever we commit any form of sin, in fact we are betraying our Lord, not just for His love but also for all the sufferings He had endured for our sake. We are no different from the wicked tenants who did nothing and who had not been able to resist the temptations of the world. Everyday we disappointed the Lord who had done so much for our sake.

Let us use this season of Lent to reflect on our own lives and on our own priorities. We have hardened our hearts against God’s love and mercy, and rise up in rebellion and disobedience against Him. This we have to stop, and so that we will not share the fate of those who had risen up against the Lord and ended up in total destruction and eternal suffering.

May this Lent all of us are awakened to our desire to love the Lord and to seek His mercy, to change our ways and sin no more, so that in the end, we will share in the joy and the glory of the Son of God, who is the King of all creations and of all the universe. We shall rejoice together in His glory and have happiness forevermore. We too are the children of God and we will be joyful together with our Father, our God who loves us all dearly. Amen.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 21 : 33-43, 45-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned a third.”

“Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.'”

“Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will yield a harvest.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realised that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested Him, but they were afraid of the crowd, who regarded Him as a Prophet.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 16-17, 18-19, 20-21

Then God sent a famine and ruined the crop that sustained the land; He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

His feet in shackles, his neck in irons till what he foretold came to pass, and the Lord’s word proved him true.

The king sent for him, set him free, the ruler of the peoples released him. He put him in charge of his household and made him ruler of all his possessions.